1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fluid control systems, and more particularly, to a control system built-into or placed in a toilet for measuring and controlling flow of water into and out of the toilet, as well as detecting and preventing unwanted leakage and/or overflow of water from the toilet.
2. Description of Related Art
As homeowners, apartment dwellers and those who work in and around certain types of institutions, such as convalescent homes, hotels, motels, retirement homes, and the like, are aware, toilet bowls may become blocked for any number of reasons, and/or a person might repeatedly flush such a toilet to cause it to flood. This flooding may cause serious problems, particularly at hotels or motels and in institutions, such as homes for the aged, since a person may slip and fall, or be subjected to diseases by such flooding waters. Furthermore, with water conservation becoming increasingly more important, the need to control the amount of water used in a toilet and the detecting and prevention of water leaks and overflows in toilets, has become an increasingly urgent necessity.
Many patents have disclosed mechanical and electrically controlled water overflow devices to prevent overflows in toilets. An example of such patents includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,058,509 and 6,178,569 in the name of Richard Quintana, one of the inventors named herein. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,096 940,899 to Richard Quintana discloses a system that detects water leaks and shuts off the flow of water to a toilet bowl by means of a sensor mounted to the toilet bowl at a location above a normal water level. However, the devices disclosed in these patents fail to disclose or teach a water flow measurement and control system having a plurality of water level and leak sensors, placed in or formed integrally with a toilet, of the type specifically disclosed herein.
The present invention overcomes known problems with existing devices and saves large amounts of water by incorporating a system into a toilet for measuring and controlling flow of water to and from the toilet, as well as effectively and conveniently detecting and preventing leaks and overflows form the toilet.